What is Your Savior?

Who is your Savior?
What is your Savior?
Let me clarify this.That’s a rip-off of the old Don Knotts comedy The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. But it isn’t all that far off, I don’t think, from the question Jesus once asked His disciples. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we find Jesus asking first, “Who do people say I am?” and then, as a follow up, “Who do you say I am?” To which Peter replied, “You are the Christ.” The Greek word “Christ” is the same as the Hebrew word “Messiah,” meaning “Anointed One.” Essentially what Peter was saying is that he recognized Jesus as the long-awaited Savior—a Savior promised by God shortly after the Fall in Genesis, on whom was based God’s covenant with Abraham, symbolized by the Old Testament sacrificial system, predicted by the prophets, and proclaimed by John the Baptist. Peter got it.And yet, he didn’t. Because when Jesus went on to explain to His disciples that he would suffer and die and be raised again on the third day, Peter replied by taking Jesus aside and rebuking him: “Never, Lord, this shall never happen to you.” Having just acknowledged that Jesus was the promised Messiah, why would Peter challenge His authority, and why would he deny the purpose for which Jesus had come? Because while he knew who his Savior was, he didn’t know what his Savior was.Peter, like so many of his peers (and likely the rest of the disciples) viewed the coming Messiah as a Savior who would overthrow Rome, restore Israel to its place as the premier kingdom in the world, and sit on a throne and dispense justice to the nations. Peter expected the Messiah to come riding in on a white stallion, not a donkey. How could such a Messiah—a conquering king, a great warrior, a hero—suffer and die? It just didn’t jive with Peter’s concept of a Savior.What about you? Who—and what—do you say Jesus is? Do you recognize him as the promised Messiah, as the Christ, the Son of God? That’s good. But I dare say that a lot of people who classify themselves with the label of Christian know who their Savior is but have a false concept of what their Savior is. Preachers in the mold of Joel Osteen portray a “prosperity gospel” that suggests that coming to Jesus is like winning the lottery. Sickness vanishes, rags turn to riches, and evil shrinks into the corner. Name it, claim it. But something is missing from this Jesus. Why did he die?If Jesus was just a conquering king, ready to wipe injustice off the face of the earth, kill all despots, and kick off an eternal party, then why did He allow himself to be subject to the horrors of a Roman cross? Why did He live the life of an itinerant preacher before that? Why didn’t he slug Pilate in the face and start an A-Team-worthy brouhaha to instigate the revolution? Why instead did he kneel and wash His disciples’ feet? Why did He, as a lamb before the shearer is silent, refuse to defend Himself when on trial? Why? Because there was something more. Yes, Jesus is the Conquering King. Yes, He will rule with a scepter of righteousness. Yes, He will wipe away all sorrow and sickness and heal all wounds. But first, He had to deal with the root of all those problems. Because while ultimately Jesus is the Savior from sickness and poverty and war and strife, He is only the Savior from them because He is also the Savior from sin. The Bible teaches that all the problems we face in this world are the result of sin, whether our personal sin or sin in general. And we’re also told in the book of James that sin ultimately leads to death. Sin is the real problem. And sin is why Jesus came and died, to take upon Himself the penalty that was rightly due you and me and Peter.If—like Peter—you are seeking a Savior who will cure cancer, improve your economic status, bridge all social gaps, and stop ISIS from conquering the Middle East, then—just like Peter—you will likely be terribly confused when a loved one suffers an illness, you lose your job or can’t find work, racial riots consume a city, and ISIS chops off heads. If, however, you are looking to Jesus as the Savior from your sin, then you will find Him to be exactly the Savior you sought. And the icing on the cake is that He still does heal, provide, sooth, and intercede even here and now. More than that, one glorious day He will save His children from every problem they face, all because He has saved them from their sins.

Bracketed In

What is it about brackets that makes us go wild? Yesterday the Selection Committee released the 68 teams in the men’s NCAA tournament, and the tourney is talk of sports radio and work water coolers (are there really still water coolers?). But brackets aren’t just for men’s college hoops. The women’s game has grown in popularity recently, and across the country, boys and girls state tournaments are also underway. All of them involve brackets. Two teams. Theoretically written in chalk. On parallel lines joined together by a vertical line. Often connected to other such “brackets” to form a larger “bracket.” Ideally, in multiples of four, but odd numbers can be incorporated with creative use of byes (see the Big Ten in past years). The more the merrier.It’s not just basketball either. It’s the new college football playoff, with a bracket of only four. In fact, it’s playoffs in every sport (unless they reseed each round like the NFL does). But it isn’t just sports. In recent years, ESPN Radio hosts have debuted a variety of voter-based brackets, ranging from best coaches to top DJs to favorite cereals or superheroes. And listeners have flocked to their websites to vote. So what is it about brackets? If my co-workers played cards on their lunch break, I couldn’t care less. But if they put their names in bracket-format on a sheet of paper hung in the lunch room, I’d be all over it. Give me Alice over Susan and Betty over Joann!And if brackets aren’t enough, we also have seeds. Iowa beating North Carolina is humdrum, unless Iowa has a small little 9 by their name and North Carolina has a little 1. Then suddenly it’s a huge deal. Valparaiso and the College of Charleston mean little to us until they’re a 12- or 13-seed that advances a few rounds, and then we’re all about the Crusaders and Cougars. Last year, Connecticut won the men’s national title. No biggie, they’ve done it before. But they were a 7-seed. Stop the presses! Now imagine that ladies’ card game, only Alice has a (1) by her name and Susan has an (8). So much for getting anything done at the office.So what is it about brackets and seeds? Why do we go ga-ga over them? Is it just that we love upsets? I mean, Cinderella’s a nice story and all, but if you put ol’ Cindy on the 16-line and her step-sisters as a #1-seed, it’s an all-timer, right? Is it the opportunity for betting? Gambling exists with any sporting event, brackets or not. I’d like to opine about how it relates to the core of who we are as Americans, but I can’t find the connection. Evolutionists would say it’s just survival of the fittest resonating within us, but then why do we pull for 13- and 14-seeds instead of 3s and 4s? Maybe it’s about looking smart, correctly filling out that bracket, besting friends, family, and coworkers. I wouldn’t know—I’ve never done it.Why do we love brackets? Why does March Madness make us, well, mad? I can’t say. And I don’t care. I just know the brackets are here, the seeds are out, and I’ve got picks to make!

America on the Brink

America is on the brink. Of what, exactly, is uncertain. But I don’t think it’s good.On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be addressing Congress, making his appeal to them to keep Iran from procuring nuclear weapons. Netanyahu sees an Iranian nuke as a direct threat to Israel’s existence and has stated “I will go anywhere I am invited in order to enunciate the State of Israel’s position and in order to defend its future and existence.” Some see this as a political stunt by Netanyahu, who faces a close election in the upcoming weeks, or by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, who issued the invitation. But Netanyahu has made it quite clear where he stands: “As prime minister of Israel, I am obligated to make every effort to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons that would be aimed at the State of Israel.” I applaud a leader who does what may be controversial or unpopular in an effort to protect his country and its people. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration and many liberals are opposed to Netanyahu’s visit. And I have to ask the question: Why?

Since 1948, when Israel achieved statehood, our two countries have been allies. Now, it appears that we are close to breaking that alliance. President Obama is intent on continuing peace talks with Iran as opposed to instituting sanctions against that nation. In theory, peace talks sound like a good idea, but only if we can trust the other side to keep the peace (Do you trust Iran for anything more than nice rugs?) and if those talks don’t buy them time to acquire nuclear weapons while the sanctions are lifted. The Obama administration has been critical of Israel for quite some time now (see my post last July) while bending over backwards not to offend those who wish to exterminate Israel and are openly hostile to the West. Recently, multiple reports have surfaced that back in 2014, Obama threatened to shoot down Israeli jets if they flew over American-controlled Iraqi airspace on runs to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. According to reports, Israel canceled their attack. Had they not, and had Obama followed through with his threat, that would have been tantamount to an act of war. If this is how we treat our allies, it begs another question: What good is our allegiance?

Israel and Iran clearly stand in hostility toward one another, and it appears that those representing the American people have sided with Iran over Israel. Which brings us to that brink I mentioned. We’re on the verge of throwing one of our dearest allies to the wolves, forever tainting our international reputation as a friend, as a supporter, as an ally. If we turn our backs on Israel now, what will that say to the rest of our allies now and in the future? If they can’t trust us, can we any longer trust them?As Iran gets closer and closer to “having the bomb” it also brings us to the brink of disaster. For decades now, mutually assured destruction has prohibited superpowers from using nuclear weapons. Fear of a worldwide nuclear holocaust has caused cooler and saner heads to prevail. Tell me, do you often use “cool head,” “sane,” and “Iran” in the same sentence? Do you want those fingers on the trigger?

Lastly, I think we might be teetering over a more dangerous precipice. Make a list of nations and groups that have opposed Israel or the Israeli people, from the Biblical book of Exodus through the latter pages of the Old Testament, from Hitler’s Nazis before and during World War II to the plethora of Arab nations in the Six-Day War in 1967. How have things turned out for those who opposed Israel? They were plowed under, by everything from the U.S. military to the Red Sea. I’m not claiming that God has directed every single bullet and bomb to Israel’s advantage, but I also can’t deny His promise to her and the facts before me. Israel, against all odds, has survived. The Philistines, the Hittites, and the Nazis . . . not so much. Do we really want to set ourselves up against Israel? I can’t speak for you, but I know I don’t want to stand on the crumbling edge of that cliff.

I know the politics are complicated. They always are. But the basic, underlying principles on which those politics are based are quite simple. #IStandWithIsrael, our long-time ally. I hope that our President, and thus ultimately, the United States of America, will too.

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I'm a thinker. For better or worse, my mind is always running. As a writer, I also love the method of communication. I think there's an artistry to it. This blog is my way of giving my constant thinking a place to express itself artistically.